World Refrigeration Day celebrates the people and technologies responsible for creating and maintaining the world we live in, a world dependent upon temperature-controlled environments. Centred around June 26, the event is supported globally by industry, professional groups, scientific and engineering associations, as well as by governments and individuals.
Titled ‘Next Generation Cooling’, the WRD 23 campaign will focus on the future of cooling technology, the industry, the people working within it, and those that benefit from cooling. Building upon last year’s theme ‘Cooling Matters’, this year’s campaign will look forward with the aim of raising awareness of how the modern cooling industry is adapting and evolving to meet the challenges and opportunities the sector faces providing the increasing demand for low carbon cooling and heating solutions in a warming climate.
Next generation cooling is important because it can help reduce the energy consumption and carbon emissions of cooling systems, which are becoming more widely used as the world gets hotter and more humid. For example, according to the International Energy Agency, air conditioners account for nearly 20% of the total electricity used in buildings around the world today, and their use is set to soar over the next three decades, becoming one of the top drivers of global electricity demand.
Supporting the next generation cooling solutions is of course the workforce; the people working within the sector. “As an industry, we need to recruit, train and retain people equipped with the knowledge and skills that a modern, forward-thinking industry requires” explains Stephen Gill, founder of World Refrigeration Day. Gill continues “Just as no-one will expect the cooling solutions we supply in the future to be the same as those from the past, no-one should expect the workforce to be the same either. This year’s campaign is an opportunity to showcase what we are doing now to ensure we have the diverse and highly skilled workforce that our sector needs for the future”.
The future is in our hands. Next Generation Cooling will tell the story of how our wellbeing depends upon sustainable cooling (and heating) and how cooling technology choices and an evolving industry can safeguard the well-being of future generations. It provides an opportunity to show the world the forward thinking industry that we are and the steps we are taking to meet the challenges of providing cooling in a low carbon future. We encourage the whole refrigeration, air-conditioning, and heat-pump industry to join us in celebrating World Refrigeration Day 2023.
Join the global community conversation using the hashtags #NextGenCooling #WorldRefrigerationDay and WREFD23.